Oh We Falled
by rese
Summary: What if it had been Jo who fell into the pond that day instead of Amy ? jo, laurie
1. Chapter 1

**Oh We Falled**

By rese

Summary: What if it had been Jo who fell into the lake instead of Amy that day? Oh yes, I recognise an instrumental moment in a relationship when I see it!

Disclaimer: The title's from a line in Josh Pyke's "Memories and Dust". That man writes and plays beautiful music, even with his Aussie accent (which makes it so much easier to sing along with). Louisa May Alcott owns Little Women yadda yada.

A/N: I apologise for the current lack of ficcing on my part. My creative juices are dying and I want them back. Plus ff . net wouldn't let me upload for some reason.

…

Jo shuddered as the cold nipped at her bones, seeping through the thick layers of clothes she wore, however, being the young, energetic person she was Jo shrugged it off and skipped down the rest of path to warm herself up. Not that the speed didn't help for she was off to meet Laurie at the previously agreed time and place and eager to forget her sister.

Her sister.

Jo's jaw tightened as the swell of anger rose up again and she blinked back the cross tears that would inevitably sting her eyes with their hotness when she thought on the matter. Amy could rot in the attic for all she cared. "No –" thought Jo, "the attic is _my_ place, my refuge and I shouldn't ever want her there again. She could rot in the _garden shed_."

Satisfied that she found an appropriate place to leave her youngest sister's imaginary decomposing body Jo reached the bend in the road and looked past the glare. There was Laurie, tall as ever; swinging his skates back and forth in a manner that simply encouraged danger.

"Laurie!" Jo called out before she ran forward, through the mist her breath made, leaving behind all thoughts of her golden-haired nemesis. The boy turned to see his friend and smiled widely at her enthusiasm.

"Well, well," he said quickly as they shook hands in a very brisk, gentlemanly way before he took her skates thoughtfully. They flexed their hands, encouraging the warmth to seep back down to their fingers with the return of blood smiling at each other knowingly.

Jo watched Laurie's happy face carefully and decided she wouldn't tell her woes just yet, for they had fun ahead and she would be grievously displeased should Amy, even the thought of her, mar Jo's exercise. "The dimple and strain in his cheeks are flattering though," Jo thought distractedly as they marched off into the wood.

…

Laurie's hand rested on her shoulder as she bent to do the laces of his skates up, frowning at his feigned inability but smiling with her eyes as she felt his pleased gaze. The hand did not sit there long but Jo felt its presence even as they stood up, wobbling and clutching at each other to gain balance.

The boy laughed at his companion's look of concentration as she tried to steady their silly selves which in turn broke her seriousness and she fell back down to the ground in a stitch of barking laughs. Laurie's grin remained wide and he wondered as he rejoined her on the wet stone what made Jo look so relieved to be enjoying herself.

"All well, fellow?" He asked chummily bumping her with his thickly covered elbow as if to spill the answer out of her. Jo raised her eyebrows, still smiling and gave him a long indiscernible look before she finally answered, "Only sister troubles, sir."

Laurie gave her a lopsided grin as comfort and squeezed her shoulder until she smiled back reassuringly. "Let's get off and have that fun you promised then," said he at length, pulling Jo to her feet with far less calamity than before.


	2. Chapter 2

Jo tilted her head back, basking in the feel of the cold air snap across her face as her friend spun them around countless times in tight circles across the bond. Everything appeared to her in sharp clarity in these fleeting moments when the warmth of Laurie's gloved hands gripped hers and the earth moved with them as one.

She was a selfish girl and she should rise above her childish anger with Amy.

Immediately her mind raced to find ways to make it up to her youngest sister and with such determination she missed the way Laurie's hands tightened. Laurie was watching her unbeknownst and imagining an entirely different set of situations than she. His eyes followed the flush of exertion in her cheeks, greedily catching the way her lips set tightly in thought, the whipped tendrils of hair that had escaped her cap. If he could only persuade her to see him as – well he had Jo in his hands this very moment and that would have to be enough. For now.

Jo opened her eyes to find Laurie's gaze darting away to the edge of the bank, a smile twitching its way across his face. Jo smiled back and tugged him towards the centre. Spinning out further into the middle of the pond Laurie instantly felt the change in texture beneath his skates, the different sound the scraping metal made as it carved into the ice. He pulled them short, dropping Jo's hands to listen carefully.

Not watching the boy's strange behaviour Jo continued to skate off, grinning at her cleverness. "Catch me if you can!" she called. Jo skated to the very middle eagerly, willing to bet Laurie was following until she looked over her shoulder. She found that not only was Laurie was not following her he was watching the ice with great concern.

"What? What is it?" asked Jo at the sudden change in gravity.

"Shh!" he hushed her quickly, pointing a finger about as he turned at the waist. There! There it was – a cracking sound. The sound of something deep against something fragile, splitting apart to pull them in. Laurie paled. He had not checked the ice in his eagerness to help Jo forget her troubles.

And there they were in the middle of a jolly great one.

"Jo – the ice," Laurie's eyes spoke his apology as he lifted them to meet hers across the ice. Jo looked back in confusion as his mitted hands made fists at his side. She fingered the sleeves of her coat feeling a sudden dread settle in the pit of her stomach.

"What about it?"

"Can you make it to the edge?" he asked ignoring her question.

"Can I –" There was a great crushing sound and Laurie watched horrified as the ice immediately behind Jo fell apart, dragging her with it into the frigid water.

"JO!"

Any sound of her scream was swallowed by Jo's immediate plunge into the icy depth of the pond. Laurie could hear his heart pounding and his mind raced to think what to do – Jo was under! He spun around in a panic looking for anything that would save her. Finally spying pieces of the broken fence leaning against the pines he raced to pick on up.

"Hold on!" he called over his shoulder, voice scratchy with fear not bothering to slow knowing how important it was that he pull her out as quickly as possible. Scooping up a particularly long piece of the rail he was distracted as the sudden impact of heavy footsteps kicked up the snow by his hands.

"Jo." A quiet voice spoke and he looked up to see little Amy in her red snood watching the black hole made in the pond.

"Amy!?" he gasped before the reality of the situation hit like a hard slap when Amy's frightened eyes met his. Forgetting about the younger sister he hauled the rail onto his shoulder and skated back across the ice, slowing to slide carefully closer to the hole. He felt his heart climb into his throat as his stomach went south at the sight of still water.

"Jo!" Laurie spoke with a voice he had never heard. Fear pulled at him every which way and he fell to his knees by the pole, sliding on his belly to the very edge of the broken ice. "Jo!" he called for her, peering into the dark abyss with such bated breath thinking he might, _might_ have been too late. Too slow, too stupid - oh God in heaven it was all his fault! He should have known that so late in the season the ice would be thin, should have checked! Should have hurried faster, should have ignored any and all distractions – Amy oh where was Amy! She could help! God, she would hate him forever if Jo was dead. Oh god. If Jo was –

He swallowed just as the water rippled to life and struggling limbs stretched for the surface. Laurie plunged his arms into the freezing water without thought, grabbing hold to Jo with every inch of his tall, lean strength. Oh God – she was alive! Alive, Jo was clinging and she was alive! With one mighty tug he pulled her thin frame half out of the water and in the motion found her dripping ice-cold pond water across his shoulders and head whilst the water her legs were still caught in surged up under his chest.

Cold, it was so cold and yet he knew without a doubt Jo was suffering much worse and he barked, "Grab the rail!" beside them and shaking and shuddering Jo held onto that piece of wood for all her life. Without a blink of consideration for propriety or on the other side chivalry Laurie plunged his long arms back into the frosty water and grabbed Jo's legs by her petticoats and yanked the rest of her trembling body out of the pond. Jo pulled herself along the rail and fell to the side when at last not an inch of her was encased in that glassy coffin of winter.

Laurie took a moment to catch his breath as Jo stared into the sun. Pushing himself up from the edge he shuffled over to where she lay and instantly begun checking her over, not caring where his hands should fall or if she would hit him away. Jo found herself too exhausted from shock to even notice if he was holding her wrist too tightly or running his hands down her cold legs. She could breathe and every breath was like fire, air and life all in one and she gulped it down eagerly.

Finally satisfied that limb and body were in one piece and the right colour he leaned back on his heels, taking Jo's hands in his. "Oh, Jo." Was all Laurie could manage and he found his eyes could not help the one or two manly drops that escaped to hit his chilly cheeks.

Jo struggled a moment to smile before something caught her eye and Laurie turned to find Amy standing a little away from them, unsure if she should approach. Feeling something he recognised as possessive flare in his belly Laurie quickly turned away from the girl back to Jo, lifting her head from the ice to peel the layers of soaked clothes off her still-shuddering body.

"Mm," was the only little sound of protest Jo was able to muster before Laurie had already removed her coat. Her head felt as though it weighed a tonne and Jo struggled to hold it upright as it lolled to her shoulders.

"Jo," she could hear the begging note in Laurie's sharp voice as he finally ripped the buttons of her dress open and stripped the thick saturated material from her. "Amy!" he called over his shoulder as Jo began to go limp in his arms, "quickly! Your hands are dry – pull your gloves off and hold her face!" Laurie's hands were shaking as he pulled Jo's boots off and tugged both her socks off with one hand, the other busy with rubbing her back. Friction, he prayed, would make her feel a _little _warmer. The littlest of littles would have to do until he removed all her wet clothes.

As soon as Amy found the courage to take Jo's face in her pink hands Laurie scurried to encase Jo's feet in his large hands, rubbing them so fiercely he was sure he was hurting her. It wasn't enough to see her skin turn a raw red and he quickly set to pulling his own skates off. As soon as Laurie had stripped off his socks he was tugging them only Jo's twitching feet, rubbing them for good measure. He pulled Jo's wet ones onto his own feet and with a stern look to Amy he hooked his fingers around Jo's top petticoat and pulled it off too. The crinoline was next and his eyes never left Amy's as her hands ran across her sister's face and neck.

"Rub her chest," he said in a monotone, finally freeing Jo's waist from the wired net before he pulled her from it, even further from the hole he could almost _feel_ in his periphery. "Do it!" he told her, ignoring the way his demand verged on the fringe of hysteria. Jo's skin was looking more grey than cream and he couldn't bare to lose – no he wouldn't think it.

Amy's hands slipped under Jo's wet white camisole and Laurie watched with knitted brow at the flushed pink of Amy's small hands as they rubbed noticeably under the see-through material. Jo was so ghostly pale from the cold he had not known her top had turned so. Laurie's eyes darted back to Jo's face where her eyes were quickly losing the battle to stay open and he clasped her head desperately.

"Jo!" the roughness of his voice seemed to catch her attention before her lids drooped again. "Jo," he repeated a little calmer as he tugged her to his own body, praying he was warm enough for the both of them. "We'll get you home. Don't worry, It'll be ok, just keep your eyes open a little longer." His hand ran soothingly across her back as he felt Amy's between them. "Take off your coat," Laurie directed softly, using the opportunity of Amy's distraction to embrace Jo tightly. Kissing her wet hair he tightened his arms around her smaller frame. As much body contact as possible would keep her warm, wasn't that what he had read?

Amy passed her small coat to him and he frowned even as he tugged Jo's much larger limbs into the sleeves. It would have to do – his own was wet from pulling her out. There was no regret for that. Amy had taken her sister's hands and was blowing hot air onto them as she rubbed them in her small grip. Laurie spared a moment to smile at the tender image before he pulled all three of them to their feet.

"We have to get her home – grab her things, I can carry her." Without waiting to see if Amy had obeyed him Laurie pulled Jo into his arms and tried not to picture a distant wedding day with much the same positions if not warmer constitutions. Not thinking of his increasingly wet pair of Jo's socks on his feet as the only barrier between him and the wintery earth Laurie strode off for Orchard House, another little pair of feet behind him following in double time.

_A/N: I hope that's what you do when someone falls into an icy pond. I've no idea but then I'm assuming Laurie wouldn't know either. I can't believe how long it's taken me to write this. sozzz_


	3. Chapter 3

Jo's hands had soon found their way around Laurie's neck and he ducked closer to feel her breathing. Breath was a good sign; the lack of warmth was not. She gripped his back tightly as he half-stepped half-leaped across fallen branches and rails, avoiding the deeper puddles on the road and hurrying up the slow slope towards their houses. She pressed her face against his chest, the scraping feel of his woollen coat like fire against her icy yet surprisingly tender skin. It was as though she would never truly feel warm again.

Most of the trip back home was a daze for Jo and she would wonder how they made it at all later, tucked up in bed. Each bustling step, each jostle was like rocking a baby to sleep and she felt her eyelids droop dangerously. No! Jo told herself sternly but tired, Laurie said to stay awake! And Jo soon found the endless shakes and shivers were impossible to subside and they were trouble enough to keep her blinking and conscious. It was so cold!

Laurie kicked at the small gate when he reached it, frustrated to no end when the wooden panels would not budge from the lock. Forgetting to look for Amy he simply stretched his long legs over it, balancing Jo awkwardly. Two paces later he heard the latch give and remembered the youngest March and stopped only to wait for her to run ahead for the door. Jo was like lead in his arms by this point, having carried her all the way from Waldon Pond without so much as a shift about in his long limbs. Praise be to Brooke for all the time he'd given to physical education! He started ahead when Amy ran by, her golden braids thumping against her back looking somewhat diminished without the vibrant red coat Jo now wore.

Amy reached the March's door and with shaking fingers turned the knob. She pushed the door open yelling, "Marmee!" and Laurie pushed past her with his precious cargo heading towards the sofa in the front room. A bustle was heard upstairs and in the kitchen and the room was soon filled with motherly, "what is it dear?" and feminine, "Oh my stars!" from Hannah and Mrs March.

"She fell in the pond," Laurie gushed, sounding out-of-breath.

"Amy! Fetch all the blankets you can carry. Hannah, help me get her out of these wet things." Marmee was all business and nurse and Laurie turned to watch Jo with worried eyes. Her eyes were terribly glassy and she watched the room without recognition of time or place. Laurie took her hand and clutched it tightly as Jo's mother began to pull his boots of Jo's feet. The tall boy ran a hand across his friend's forehead, meaning only for it to be a momentary check and soon found himself cupping Jo's cheek in tender affection. She just had to be alright.

Mrs March watched all of this quietly, removing the heavier articles of their neighbours and the saturated delicates of her daughters with quick, sure fingers. "Thank you Laurie," she spoke seriously when Hannah returned with a bucket for the clothes and a hot towel for Jo's head. "I think it's time you go."

Laurie looked up in shock, with every intention of refusing to leave Jo's side until he caught Mrs March's gaze at his things, and the lack of Jo's original clothes and he found himself pulling away until he was standing in the middle of the room making a noticeable puddle on the carpet rug. He had not prepared for this consequence.

"Yes, of course," he said quietly, looking shaken and a little bewildered. Laurie ignored Amy's stare as she stood by the door, piles of blankets in arms and he walked out of the room and the house feeling every inch in the squelch of his socked toes.

…

Jo sat by the roaring fire. She could finally feel her feet again and never had the sensation been so delicious nor so warm – excluding the time she'd spilt the hot coals between the stove and the fire in one ill-conceived cost-cutting experiment. Jo snuggled down deeper in the mountain of blankets and quilts; eager to be enveloped in what she sincerely hoped was a never-ending supply of heat. Beth's cats had joined her in her little paradise and Jo grinned at the lazy way they pawed about, climbing the heights that was her hip and settling in the valleys between her arms.

Nothing had felt so lovely.

The fire crackled happily along with her and Jo stared into its beaming bronze face. The coals glowed visibly and her eyes danced in delight with the twigs that snapped and spurted little sparks of amber that fell across the brighter flames like fairy lights.

A sudden scratching at the window tore Jo's attention from the fire theatre and she tried to see what was making the noise without having to move a great deal. Being warm was well worth it, and if she had to leave her comforting haven then Jo would have nothing to do with curiosity until it was brought to her.

The scratching continued and with a great sigh and one last hug for the copper pot she sat up, instantly regretting the action when a great rush of cold air scrambled its way along her back and down into the covers left on her legs. Frowning Jo stretched to look out the window and found her dearest friend leaning over the frozen rosebush with a few suspicious-looking stones in the palm of his hand.

"Oh!" she saw him say through the window pane and she laughed as he directly lost his footing. Laurie scrambled to hold himself up by the ledge, his boots slippery on the rocks that lined the garden bed. Grinning sheepishly back at her Jo gestured for him to use the front door and come in which prompted the queerest response from her boy. Jo watched as Laurie paled and leaned back to look around into what she presumed were the other windows of the house. Why, she thought as he tried to look casual about it, he looks mighty nervous. Just what had he gone and done now? Jo wondered before he winked at her and disappeared from sight.

A moment or two later Jo was straining to hear the door open and with luck it opened and brought her neighbour who gave one quick look in the kitchen and up the stairs before meeting her in the sitting room.

"Oh my boy!" Jo cried as he embraced her looking rather giddy for all his odd behaviour.

"How are you, soldier?"

"Very well now, thank you. Well I should say I was a great deal warmer before your delinquency tore me from my sick-bed," Jo pouted theatrically, pleased that Laurie squeezed himself beside her rather than lean his head on her knee as he looked wont to do.

Laurie stretched his long limbs out beside her, quite at place before his expression returned to its usual calm casualness. He winked at her again and Jo gathered the blankets selfishly about her, deliberately creating an extra layer of space between them. Laurie rubbed his chin before resting the hand near Jo's shoulder, making his excuse, "Sometimes a fellow needs to be noticed."

Jo scoffed at that, rolling her eyes before she resettled unknowingly closer than she intended to her friend. "Well sometimes property needs to be respected. Why in heavens did you not use the door?" Jo poked him in the rib through her generous blankets and the effect was rather dulled.

"Your mother," he answered simply and honestly and was met with confusion.

"Oh?"

"Where are your sisters?" Jo saw his deflection and decided to humour him. She'd find out sooner or later. "Beth is with Amy and Meg has gone to town for potatoes with Marmee."

"Good," Laurie breathed and the hand by Jo's shoulder wandered its way to her hair. Jo did not bat it away impatiently as was the norm between them when Laurie's teasing became physical for such was a boy's way. Instead his large hand lingered, tracing the shell of her ear in the most touching of gestures Jo had known.

Jo remained very still as his hand moved from her ear to her jaw, following it's sharply defined edge with a caress she felt amiss for the tall space-filling lad who would prod and poke her til she squirmed.

"I –" Laurie began before finding the words stuck in his throat. He swallowed deeply, black eyes concentrating on a spot Jo felt certain was by her lips. "That was a close call this afternoon." Jo found herself swallowing as his fingertips brushed the corner of her mouth and she nodded quickly once. Should she break this spell? Jo was unsure – this was not usual and unprecedented in her experiences with the Laurence boy – and she found more shockingly she did not mind it. "I – I'm sorry Jo, I should have checked the ice. I meant to, honest, but you were – and Amy had – so I wanted you to have fun and I guess I just… forgot."

"Don't be silly," Jo ducked her head, despite the hand that held it lightly. Oh she felt ashamed that Laurie of all people should blame himself for the accident. "If I hadn't been so cross over such a silly thing I would have noticed myself. Really there is no one else to blame but my stupid self and don't –" Jo stopped Laurie before he could voice his protest – "I am well chastised for my behaviour – I will never act so petty over such a meaningless thing in the scheme of things as a book and always, always forgive. I should have forgiven Amy last night and I'm so sorry I didn't and almost payed –" Jo looked away choking on that particular reality. She had spoken heresy on her life's love for writing and novels but she had learnt a greater love, ever so much more essential to being was a love for one's family and she had shown no love to her youngest sister that day. She was silly and angry and wrong and she had almost payed for it with her life. She was such a child and so upset with herself that sniffing angrily she did not notice Laurie shift closer. "Amy did not deserve the monster I became today she was so sorry, really I was quite a horrid wretch. She was so good when I fell and – oh and you!" Jo looked back at Laurie to find him much closer than she expected. "Thank you my boy," she beamed, pulling out her hands to pat his shoulders. Nothing else could be said for Jo had meant those words with every fibre of her being and she knew Laurie had caught their significance. There was a second or two where Laurie leaned further towards her and something panicked in Jo thinking he would kiss her but he simply pulled back before crushing her in a hug.

"Don't ever frighten me like that again Jo March." Jo was sure she could hear tears in his voice but buried in his long limbs as she was she could not see his face. When he pulled back he simply smirked at her and punched her lightly in the arm. "Books meaningless! Why your drowning has sent you mad off your rocker, old fellow."

_A/N: best way to waste time waiting for the dryer to go off so I can go to bed. A lot of the descriptions were influenced by the movies this time round – waldon pond and the gate really. Mostly coz I'm too lazy to pick up the book maybe 2 metres behind me. Oh, there you go in the book it's a river. Fancy that. Thanks for reading and letting me know what you think guys. It is always, always appreciated._


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